The Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 saw blatant violation of human rights under the guise of sprucing up the city ahead of the international event. Social Equity Watch conducted a study to understand the impact of the games on the health, livelihoods and lives of the city makers of Delhi.

An assessment of disparities in land distribution and prospects of land distribution Land, in the context of poverty eradication, defies classical theories of economics. A piece of land to a landless person goes far beyond the economic significance as a means of livelihood or a habitat. It is a ‘quantum leap’ in self-esteem, self worth and entrepreneurship. The aim of this book is to develop an understanding of land distribution in Bihar, to form the basis for collective actions aimed at better entitlements for the poor. The current global financial crisis has helped to re-establish a long forgotten paradigm that it is not just the size of the cake that matters, but is how it is cut. The land mapping exercise evidence of this is no uncertain terms.

This book contains a framework and set of tools that help to hold a mirror up to us to show forms and levels of exclusion that might exist in the work that we do. The chapters that follow will guide you through the context, the conceptual underpinnings and the practical steps involved in conducting a social equity audit.

It all began when reports of exclusion started pouring in from different parts of India in the aftermath of the tsunami that hit the south-eastern Indian coast in December 2004. These prompted many professionals engaged in ‘development work’ to sit up and think about ways of making themselves more accountable to ensure that development interventions do not fall prey to exclusive tendencies that dominate society at large.

A Fact Finding Assessment Undertaken in the Aftermath of the Floods of 2007 in Bihar. One sul
try night in July 2007, the embankments around the Kamalabalan River in Darbhanga, Bihar crumbled, yet again. In the span of a few hours, lives and livelihoods, hopes and aspirations were washed away by a preventable, man- made disaster, leaving villagers in a swamp of debt, disease, and displacement.

For the last 60 years, this once dreamy district of Bihar has been violated again and again by both greed and indifference. Those with power played their luck against the might of nature, and left the poor and the marginalized to face the consequences. The authorities, of course, refuse to play referee. In a bid to capture reality, Waters of Despair pokes those who refuse to see, in the eye.

At the end of September 2009, sudden depressions in Bay of Bengal caused heavy rain fall in the catchment areas of Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers causing heavy flooding of both these rivers. This caused heavy flood in North Karnataka and the Rayalaseema region of AP. According to the official sources, over 13 lakh people were affected in five districts of Andhra Pradesh following unprecedented floods in Krishna river basin and have claimed 37 lives. This has been the heaviest flood in these rivers including River Krishna in more than 100 years (Source: As on October 7, 2009: Special Commissioner Relief, Government of A.P).

The catastrophe that struck Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in September-October 2009 will remain etched in the memory of the people forever. The destruction left scores dead, rendered millions hungry and homeless, flattened lakhs of acres of standing crops, and orphaned and dislocated many more.

Discrimination on the basis of caste in the aftermath of the tsunami is an unquestionable fact. The testimonies of Dalit victims of the tsunami all along the Indian coast of Tamilnadu show remarkable consistency, pointing to a systematic and predictable type of discrimination. These testimonies are backed up by previously published reports by NGOs1, a major National Public Hearing2, reports by Indian journalists3, and dozens of interviews with the various stakeholders conducted during the course of this research. The discrimination was present at all phases of the recovery process, from the denial of rice, the refusal to share emergency shelter, the removal of bodies, and the relief materials provided, through to the compensation and provision of livelihood assistance and housing. The discrimination began in the first week after the disaster and was still very much in evidence in January 2006, more than one year after the tsunami.

The people of Andhra Pradesh have experienced both the severity of the drought and cruelty of the floods during the same year, 2009. The State has faced severe drought until the end of August 2009. They were getting relief due to the rains here and there during September and started their Agriculture. Even now, except for a few districts, Andhra Pradesh has received deficient rainfall this season. Meteorological office sources say that coastal Andhra, two districts of Rayalaseema and almost the entire Telangana still has deficient rainfall.

About 178 lakh people in 215 blocks are currently affected by flood in 19 districts of Bihar. The massive loss and damage and the task of supporting people to cope with it is daunting. The task is further made complex by the existing entrenched exclusion and discrimination based on caste, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, disability and others. This report documents the extent and nature of damage among different social groups and underlying issues of caste based exclusion and discrimination of Dalit communities in accessing relief and rehabilitation. Recognising the recurrent nature of disasters and their relationship to development, equity and inclusion based on human rights principles become critical in disaster management interventions. These issues though prevalent are highlighted in the context of the Tsunami (See Annexure 1 for details). We place this report as an initial effort in this direction.